After what happened to the senior tailback and the Spartans last year, they could use all the good fortune they can get this season.

"We had a whole lot of bad luck with keeping people healthy," said Gilmore, whose Spartans square off against the first-year Mill Creek Hawks, a Class AAAAA school located in Hoschton, where Barrow, Gwinnett and Jackson counties converge.

"We had so many injuries and nothing seemed to go our way."

Gilmore wasn't exaggerating.

Less than a month before the Spartans' season opener against Georgia Military College, starting quarterback Chris Rogers contracted mononucleosis and missed 10 weeks of practice and the first four games.

A week after Rogers returned and guided Athens Academy to a 38-14 victory over Franklin County, Gilmore suffered a broken left foot in a 34-7 loss to Region 8-A rival Commerce. He missed the remainder of the season.

The next week, the Spartans lost defensive back Fielding Calloway for the year when he suffered a knee injury.

Those three key injuries, not to mention the fact that the team was riddled with lesser injuries for most of the season, extinguished the Spartans' aspirations of winning a region title.

"Everything (bad) that could've happened last year pretty much happened," said Rogers, a senior. "It was awful. (The expectations) are really high right now. This team has a lot of potential, but that doesn't mean anything. Wins and losses are what matter. If we win a lot of games, we win a lot of games. I hope we do."

To make Rogers' hopes a reality, keeping the talented quarterback out of harms way is paramount. The graduated David Blanton, who started at both tight end and defensive line heading into last season's summer practice, took over for Rogers for the first four games of 2003. He led Athens Academy to a 2-2 mark, but what Blanton couldn't offer the Spartans' offense was that overall athletic package that Rogers had become known for, especially his quickness.

"He's much more of a threat running the ball," coach Michael Gunn said. "We missed Chris' athleticism more than anything."

What should benefit Rogers and the backfield is a tested, senior-laden offensive front, which has the talent to evolve into one of the most productive offensive lines in the program's history. Andrew MacKay, Andy Jarrett, Ben Gails, Kent Person and center Derek Chuboff comprise a unit that boasts an average height of 5-foot-10 and an average weight of 254 pounds.

"If they'll learn what it means to work hard and do what coach (Kim) Stephens asked them to do, there's no reason why they couldn't be the best line we've ever had here," Gunn said. "We just don't know that yet."